Saved By The Flame
by TheGirlWithGoldenEyes
Summary: "Oi, oi. What the hell do you think you're doing to Lucy?"


**Moshi moshi! First of many Fairy Tail fics that I have pending. This one is going to be a one-shot... AND STAY A ONE-SHOT. I am horrible about making one-shots and then ending up continuing them to be chapter stories. Like, no Monica. Just let it be a one-shot.**

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A young woman, around seventeen years old, found herself on the way home to her apartment. The streets were dark, save for the few lights that allowed her to see where she was going. She was too exhausted to walk on the ledge next to the large river that flowed through the center of the streets like she normally would, choosing instead to walk near the buildings. A sigh escaped her lips, being the only thing to break the heavy silence of the late night. Her eyes fluttered closed, arms crossing themselves behind her back.

_Man, what a day. Anymore partying and I might have passed out!_

The beautiful blonde stifled a yawn, bringing her hand to cover her mouth. Her apartment was still about a block away, she realized. She slumped at the thought. Why did she have to live so far away?

Lucy perked up at the peculiar noises she was hearing. A faint tune was being hummed, filling the silence of the air. She cracked an eye open, searching to see where the noise was coming from. It was a deep hum, obviously coming from a man. Her head whipped around as an uneasy feeling settled within her stomach. She quickened her pace a bit.

_What is that? Gahh, I need to get home! Kowai!_

She picked up her pace again, feeling extremely creeped out. A large shadow loomed over her head, making her deep brown eyes go wide. Her hand reached for the whip attached to her side as she turned around to face the mysterious figure. She was met with a pair of narrowed eyes, accompanied by a sinister smirk. The dark humming came to a halt.

Before she even had a chance to pull out her whip, she was slammed into the brick wall of an apartment building. A sickening crack rang through the air as her head collided with the wall. Her vision went fuzzy for a few moments, making her all the more lost as to what was going on. She reached for the small leather pouch strapped to her side that contained her keys, trying urgently to call on one of her celestial spirits.

"Oh, no. We can't have you calling out any of those pesky spirits." The man whispered, grabbing a tight hold of her wrist. He pinned both arms over her head with one hand. "I don't want them to interrupt my _fun_."

Lucy struggled under his grip, desperately trying to break free. The man's face came closer to her's, allowing Lucy to see him. His dark viridian hair was long and shaggy, covering one of his golden eyes. A long scar ran from under his eye to his jaw. He was smirking like a twisted psychopath, eyes narrowed dangerously.

His breath was hot on her cheek, making her cringe away from him. Her teeth ground against each other in her disgust. A shocked gasp escaped her lips as the man's tongue ran from the start of her cleavage to the bottom of her jaw. His free hand gripped her waist firmly, holding her into place. She continued to fight against him.

"Oh, I see you have a whip as well." He taunted, his husky voice breathing into her ear. "What a naughty little minx. Would you like me to tie you up?"

A chill ran down the golden-headed girl's spine. Thinking fast, she brought her leg up to slam into the man's groin. He yelped in surprise, releasing his grasp on her wrists and waist to double over on the ground.

"Dirty, perverted old freak!" Lucy shrieked.

She wasted no time in speeding off down the road. She vowed never to come home from the guild this late again. Honestly, she would rather spend the night on the floor at Fairy Tail than be attacked by freaks on her way home.

"You're gonna pay for that, you fucking bitch!" The man roared in outrage, managing to pull himself to his knees and chase after her.

Lucy focused on sprinting home, not even bothering to check how far away the man was from catching her. If she turned around, she probably wouldn't like what she saw anyways. Finally, _finally_, her apartment came into view. She picked up her pace, a smile splitting across her face as if she were some type of mad woman.

However, her victory party was cut short when a rough hand grabbed ahold of her arm. She was forced to halt, causing her to fall backwards onto the ground. The man loomed over her with a snarl, making his anger very apparent. His foot slammed into Lucy's side. The celestial spirit mage rolled with the force of his kick. He repeated the action, causing her to slam into the wall of her apartment. She glared up at him as he came closer.

She managed to pull herself to her knees, hands holding herself up. Her side was aching. She could already tell it was going to bruise.

"That's a good look for you, Blondie. Down on your hands and knees like the filthy slut you are." He let out a laugh as he slammed his foot down into her back.

Lucy found herself against the ground again. She pushed herself up with her hands, only to have her head lifted from the pavement by her silky blonde locks. She struggled to look up the man. He was grinning at her, crouched down to her side. His free hand stroked her soft cheek. She growled at him.

"Come now, what's with the nasty attitude?" The man chuckled. "I just want to hear you _scream._"

"Never." Lucy hissed at him, eyes narrowing menacingly.

He merely laughed at her. "Is that a challenge, girl?"

He slammed her head back into the ground. The man's shadow grew as he rose to his feet. Another kick was landed in the same place as the times before. His chuckling grew into full bouts of laughter as he continued the act.

Lucy grit her teeth, eyes squeezing shut. She attempted to rise to her feet again, only making it a few centimeters from the ground before another hit came and slammed her into the wall. She heard something crack, making her eyes go wide. She whimpered silently, not allowing the man the satisfaction of hearing her screams. Lucy was determined to stand and fight.

The man watched as she pulled herself to her knees again. He raised an eyebrow, silently wondering how she still had the will to move. Lucy pulled herself to her feet, leaning against the wall of her home for support. Her head was tilted back, gazing up at the stars that dotted the night sky. She was breathing heavily, but she didn't care. She would be strong.

The man grabbed ahold of Lucy's chin, forcing her to look at him. She yanked her head from his grasp, growling at him with what little energy she had left. This only proved to anger the man even more. He swung a punch at her, successfully hitting her in the cheek. Her head snapped in the opposite direction of where she was facing before. She grit her teeth, preparing herself for the next hit that was bound to come.

"Oi, oi. What the hell do you think you're doing to Lucy?"

Lucy's eyes widened. That voice... "N-Natsu?"

She turned her head in time to see the man go flying down the street with a trail of fire following him. His back connected hard with a metal pole. He slid to the ground, fear and shocked taking over his features. A well-built, pink-headed boy stood tall in the dim light of the street, glaring menacingly at the guy who had just attacked his blonde friend. Lucy watched as Natsu's body became engulfed in flames. He stomped down the street to stop in front of the old creep.

"I should burn you alive right now for even _thinking_ of hurting one of my fellow guild members like that." Natsu growled, leaning closer to the man's face. He pulled his fist back, prepared to strike the man again. "Iron fist of the-"

"Natsu, stop." Lucy's voice came out in a low rasp.

The pink-headed dragon slayer turned to face her with a confused look, pausing his punch in mid-swing. The man attempted to use this opportunity to scurry away, but Natsu grabbed him by the ankle before he had the chance. He hoisted the man up in mid-air, waiting patiently for Lucy to continue.

"I mean, if you destroy the city now, I won't be able to pay this month's rent." Lucy explained.

The boy frowned, turning his attention back to the terrified man in his grasp. "Oops, looks like I caught his jeans on fire." Natsu pointed out, scratching his head. A smirk broke out across his face as an idea formed in his mind. His gaze flicked from the man to the large river flowing between the streets. Without anymore hesitation, Natsu proceeded to _throw the man into the river_.

With a satisfied grin, he turned back to Lucy. He studied her, taking in how beat up she looked. Bruises were covering most of her midsection, her wrists, and her right arm. She was breathing heavily and leaning against the brick wall. Her left arm wrapped around her torso to grip her side. A thin stream of blood flowed from her lip, which seemed to be busted.

"Lucy..." Natsu whispered, taken aback by her disheveled appearance. He rushed to her side in an instant.

"Thank you, Natsu." She mumbled, exhausted. She had already been tired from the mission they had just completed, not to mention the party they had walking in on afterwards. Lucy fell into Natsu's chest, groaning about having a headache.

He stifled a laugh. "I think a headache is the least of your problems right now, Luce."

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**And I'm going to awkwardly cut it off here because I'm horrible at endings and if I add anymore details they'll be really boring and unnecessary. So, I guess this is NaLu if you squint. I mean, I made this story with full intentions of it being NaLu... But as you can see, it was more like Lucy getting beat up and Natsu just so happening to pass by. Gomen, Lucy T.T... I don't mean for my stories to be cruel, it just happens.**


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